What do you think the Good News of Jesus Christ is?

[Riverwolf]

I never said I am not responsible for my own actions. I am merely referring to how theism in general and specifically Christianity ruins any meaning to life. As a Christian I had no reason to even be on this earth, I would die and go to heaven. Anything I did was solely for my own benefit, so that I could go to heaven.

The theism I follow gives meaning to my life. That is, it allows me to have one.

We all die. But first, we live. And life is wonderful.

 

[jah59]

It is not baseless, it is the current state of historicity, something you do not seem to know or understand at all.

Apologetics is fine, and if you want to proselytize, please do it in the same faith section. Out here your fair game.

I also offered you a credible method of research, Yale not good enough for you?

Actually, I never said I wouldn't check it out. In fact it looks very interesting to me and I thank you for the link. However, that makes WBS no less credible. That just appears to be an opinion to me without going through the course material.

 

[jah59]

Christian Apologetics Blog

Nonetheless it is from facts well known and widely published. Find anything that credibly disputes it!

 

[Sha'irullah]

The theism I follow gives meaning to my life. That is, it allows me to have one.

We all die. But first, we live. And life is wonderful.

Theism alone is not bad but the notion of an afterlife specifically is what I cannot understand

 

[Guitar's Cry]

The Good News of Christ was that we no longer need to feel separated and estranged from the living universe. "God loves us."

 

[fantome profane]

Do you realize that the historical record of manuscript evidence backing up the New Testament makes the very existence of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great questionable by comparison?

You made the claim that the evidence backing up the New Testament is better than the evidence for the very existence of Julius Caesar. And to back this up you link to a Christian Appolgetic Blog that does not even mention Julius Caesar. Even if the information there was good (and it is not) it would not back up the claim you made. The claim you made is nonsense.

Nonetheless it is from facts well known and widely published. Find anything that credibly disputes it!

No, it is really not. It is disputed by the majority of serious biblical scholars.

 

[outhouse]

Actually, I never said I wouldn't check it out. In fact it looks very interesting to me and I thank you for the link. However, that makes WBS no less credible. That just appears to be an opinion to me without going through the course material.

It Is factually, an apologetic site, with its own bias.

 

[jah59]

It was foretold that "this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations and then the the end will come" (Matt 24:14)

What in your opinion is "the good news of the kingdom"? And how should Christ's disciples go about preaching it, especially to the disadvantaged ones who may live in countries where there is no internet or money to purchase the technology to access it?

When Jesus said, “Into whatever city or village you enter, search out who in it is deserving, and stay there until you leave. 12 When you enter the house, greet the household. 13 If the house is deserving, let the peace you wish it come upon it; but if it is not deserving, let the peace from you return upon you. 14 Wherever anyone does not receive you or listen to your words, on going out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I say to you, it will be more endurable for the land of Sod′om and Go·mor′rah on Judgment Day than for that city.

What does it mean to "search out" those who are deserving? What effort is to be put forward to accomplish all that Jesus commanded? (Matt 28:19, 20)

How do we "shake the dust off our feet"?

Thank you JayJayDee for your statement about the good news of the kingdom. However, you should note that Jesus went on in verse 8 of Matt. 10 to say, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." Although he does go on in verse 23 to say, "I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes", few today would say that we are commanded the heal the sick, raise the dead, and drive out demons. For one thing, this command was given explicitly to his twelve apostles and they were commanded to go only to the lost sheep of Israel (the Jews) (verses 5-6). This is what is known by many as Jesus' "limited commission" as opposed the what is known as the Great Commission, which you reference.

If we recognize this was only for the 12 Apostles and directed only for the Jews, what should we understand the phrase "you (the 12) will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes" and of course, your own reference to Matt. 24:14"?

In Mark 1:15 Jesus said, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.” When Jesus declared ‘The time is fulfilled,’ he was saying that it was time for all God had said and done in Israel’s history to be brought to completion. The universal reign of God was about to be manifested in a new and special way. The hopes expressed in the Old Testament prophets were ready to be realized.

It is clear that in several references the kingdom refers to the church. Therefore, in one sense the kingdom prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled when the church was established on the day of Pentecost, because after the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 the Bible speaks of the Kingdom as being in existence. (Revelation 1:9; Colossians 1:13; I Thessalonians 2:12).

So while this good news is great, is it by itself a good news that saves?
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[jah59]

You made the claim that the evidence backing up the New Testament is better than the evidence for the very existence of Julius Caesar. And to back this up you link to a Christian Appolgetic Blog that does not even mention Julius Caesar. Even if the information there was good (and it is not) it would not back up the claim you made. The claim you made is nonsense.

No, it is really not. It is disputed by the majority of serious biblical scholars.

And everyone should take your word for it, oh great one?

 

[jah59]

It Is factually, an apologetic site, with its own bias.

It is not an apologetic site. You have a strange understanding of the meanings of words.

 

[Riverwolf]

Theism alone is not bad but the notion of an afterlife specifically is what I cannot understand

Fear of death is one of the most primal of all fears, and one of the hardest to grasp with.

 

[Vinayaka]

When I hear the term, "Good News' I just shake my head because I have no idea what it's about.

 

[savagewind]

Romans 5:10
For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Romans 8:34
Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Hebrews 7:25
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them

Hebrews 9:24
For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.

1 John 2:12
I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

1 John 4:4
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

3 John 1:4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

John 14:16
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever--

1 John 2:1
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

The Good News is about each person's possibility for joy, peace and the hope of reconciliation with The Holy God.

 

[Riverwolf]

The Good News is about each person's possibility for joy, peace and the hope of reconciliation with The Holy God.

The problem is that it assumes such reconciliation is even necessary.

 

[savagewind]

The problem is that it assumes such reconciliation is even necessary.

OK How about calling it friendship? And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. James 2:23

Genesis 15:6
Abram believed the בַּֽיהוָ֑ה, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Isaiah 41:8
"But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend,

 

[Guitar's Cry]

The problem is that it assumes such reconciliation is even necessary.

In a sense, it is for some folks. The need to feel at peace with themselves and the universe can feel like the estrangement from a parent.

A favorite quote of mine from William Blatty's The Exorcist:

“...I think the demon's target is not the possessed; it is us...the observers...I think the point is to make us despair; to reject our own humanity...to see us as ultimately bestial; as ultimately vile and putrescent; without dignity; ugly; unworthy. And there lies the heart of it, perhaps: in unworthiness. For I think belief in God is not a matter of reason at all; I think it is a matter of love; of accepting the possibility that God could love us.”



That is of course the Christian way of saying that humanity sometimes has trouble accepting its bestial side--the squishy, smelly, putrid, eventually-decaying side of being alive--resulting in feeling unworthy or dejected from the universe.


Other cultures simply accept and revel in the bestial. Others accept a life of quiet asceticism. Christ offered a way of returning to God through humility and forgiveness.

 

[Sha'irullah]

Fear of death is one of the most primal of all fears, and one of the hardest to grasp with.

The afterlife seems to cure people of that fear but it has only made me fear death even greater. As an atheist, death is at the very bottom of my concerns.
I am worried about what to do when alive.

 

[Riverwolf]

OK How about calling it friendship? And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. James 2:23

Genesis 15:6
Abram believed the בַּֽיהוָ֑ה, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Isaiah 41:8
"But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend,

It still assumes such a thing is necessary.

As a polytheist, I don't believe the God being spoken of is anything more than the local Sky God. Starting a friendship with him is as unnecessary to me as starting a friendship with Ra.

 

[Thruve]

For myself when I finally realized what Christ was about, was a fantastic transformation, I finally realized that what he was saying was that we are all the Christ. Jesus the man came to the realization that he was the Christ, but he couldn't just come out and say that, so he spoke in parables and metaphors, these were confusing to the ignorant listener, but they had the power to make the one who is searching for truth, realize what he was saying.

The whole story of Jesus is our story, if we don't see it like this its all a wast of time, those who put Jesus on a pedestal will stay at the level, forever worshipping an idol. Those who see beyond the words will be in heaven, here and now, not in the future as so many believe.

I love you. frubbie for awesome.

 

[savagewind]

It still assumes such a thing is necessary.

As a polytheist, I don't believe the God being spoken of is anything more than the local Sky God. Starting a friendship with him is as unnecessary to me as starting a friendship with Ra.

You are saying "necessary". I am saying desirable. Being in love isn't necessary for life but it makes it much better I think.